USDA Forest Service
Forest Products Laboratory
One Gifford Pinchot Drive
Madison, WI 53705-2398
(608) 231-9200

Wood Technical Fact Sheet

 Scorodocarpus borneensis

Kulim

Family: Olacaceae

Other Common Names: Bawang Hutan (Sabah, Sarawak).

Distribution: Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, and Borneo; throughout lowland forests, occasionally gregarious.

The Tree: May reach a height of 125 ft with clear boles to 70 ft, trunk diameters about 24 in. sometimes to 60 in.

The Wood:

General Characteristics: Heartwood dark red brown to purple brown; sapwood light yellow, sometimes with a transitional red-brown zone. Texture moderately fine; grain shallowly to deeply interlocked; luster low; a strong smell of garlic when freshly cut; vessel lines may give a silver fleck on longitudinal surfaces.

Weight: Basic specific gravity (ovendry weight/green volume) 0.70; air-dry density 54 pcf.

Mechanical Properties: (2-in. standard)

Moisture content Bending strength Modulus of elasticity Maximum crushing strength

(%) (Psi) (1,000 psi) (Psi)

Green (37) 11,240 1,930 6,440

16% 15,500 2,160 8,270

Janka side hardness 1,290 lb for green material and 1,370 lb for dry.

Drying and Shrinkage: The timber dries fairly rapidly, large radial splits may develop. No data available for kiln schedules. Shrinkage green to ovendry: radial 4.1%; tangential 9.3%; volumetric 13.3%.

Working Properties: Moderately easy to saw; dresses and bores smoothly, if grain not deeply interlocked.

Durability: Reported to be moderately durable with some resistance to termite attack Some exposure tests indicate a life of about 2 to 5 years when placed in waters containing marine borers.

Preservation: Absorptions of 4 to 7 pcf of preservative oils are reported for full-cell pressure treatments. Sapwood is more readily treated.

Uses: Heavy and light construction work where decay hazards are low.

Additional Reading: (9), (11), (37)